Challenges scare the hell out of me, but the Gorgeous, Fiery, Talented Wonder that is Bojana, has given me the challenge of telling the story of this super cool photo she chose as inspiration, and I love and adore her, so I can’t say no. At first, I was sure I would write a poem – one that I will write later, as B’s picture inspired me to write about something I have wanted to write about for years and it may take some time – but decided to travel way out of my comfort zone and attempt a bit of a story instead. You have been warned!!!!!
The Eyes of Witches
Wanda, Holly and Astrid grew up in a small village, surrounded by dense and lush woodland. They lived in an old house that creaked with the wind as if it were singing to the rain that echoed in its rafters. As children, the girls spent most of their time together, living out the landscape of their imaginations in the vast rooms of their home. The three of them were inseparable, almost indistinguishable. Except for their eyes.
Wanda had brown eyes, not dark, but warm like the flickering of a candle, speckled with gold around the edges. When she was happy, the golden rings shed warmth on anyone she looked at, but when she was angry or sad, the rings turned to fire and scorched the flesh of anyone who dared to look her in the eye.
Holly’s eyes were green, so pure and bright, they came alive when she laughed, like new leaves sprouting on the branches of a tree. With just a glance, she could inspire flowers to bloom, feed their roots with the earthy warmth of her gaze, and cajole them to wind around the necks of anyone who made her mad.
Aislin’s blue eyes were ever-changing. She brought the sky into the room when she was joyful, but when she felt rage, she could unleash a storm that would devour anyone in her path.
The three girls shared a birthday in the middle of summer, and every year, when the moon rose to the highest point in the sky, their three grandmothers led them to the woods, lit a fire and regaled them with stories of witches with beautiful eyes, who hunted the evil creatures that lurked outside the boundaries of their village. As they got older, they learned that the brave witches in the stories were the Grandmothers themselves. They were part of a legacy of women who had inherited eyes imbued with the powers of fire, earth and water, tasked to vanquish the evils that threatened the countryside. The stories turned to lessons as the years passed, and each lesson ended with the same fierce edict. Never let them see you, their grandmothers warned. Evil can never know you are coming.
On the night of their 21st birthday, three women, one with the power of fire, one the power of the earth, and the last harnessing the power of water, set out on their very first hunt, scouring the countryside beyond their tiny village. In a clearing, just barely illuminated by a sliver of moon, they found him. A young man, blonde hair sticking to beads of sweat that covered his forehead. He was shirtless and focused on his task, impervious to the chill as he plunged his shovel again and again into the earth. Next to the looming grave was a child, a girl of no more than 9, stripped, bleeding from a gash on her head, and bound with thick dirty rope. The child quietly cried, looking out into the darkness for a glimmer of hope. First, she saw their eyes, fire, earth and water filling up the stillness, and she knew she was safe.
The man grunted with malevolence and continued to violently dig, ignoring the roots that climbed from the earth and wrapped slowly around his ankles. He wiped the moisture from his brow with a bloody hand and screamed at the terrified child to shut up, not realizing what he heard was the roar of the sky, opening up to unfurl a rage of ice and rain. He didn’t feel the fire until the handle of his shovel turned to flames and the skin on his hands began to blister. The first thing they did when they captured him, was pluck out his eyes.
I pass this challenge along to three incredibly talented writers who I am lucky to know and be constantly inspired by.
Steve (I own you one!!!!) Sarah and Bryan. No pressure ever, as you all know, but if you choose to take a spin with this, I know you will all come up with something wonderful! Any genre, any style, anything goes!!!!
This is the image I have chosen for you! Kinda strange, I know….but that’s how I roll!!!!
February 4, 2019 at 3:11 pm
Great job, you have a way with words, I love the way you describe the scene.
February 4, 2019 at 3:12 pm
Thank you my love❤️
February 4, 2019 at 3:57 pm
So beautiful, Susan! How do you do that?!! xoe
February 4, 2019 at 5:03 pm
You are incredibly kind, ee! Thank you!
February 4, 2019 at 4:01 pm
Great story, Susan!! I love a good, creative thriller where the bad guy gets what’s coming.
February 4, 2019 at 5:02 pm
Thank you, Angela’s! I just read yours and it is perfect!
February 4, 2019 at 5:04 pm
You’re welcome! Thank you, Susan.
February 4, 2019 at 4:15 pm
At least I have something to write about this week. Coming up with something will definitely be challenging, but I have an idea
February 4, 2019 at 5:02 pm
Yay! I can’t wait!
February 4, 2019 at 5:23 pm
It might be a little creepy though
February 5, 2019 at 7:52 am
Creepy is Good!!!!
February 4, 2019 at 5:22 pm
Ummmmmm……you cannot possibly leave it like that. What is going on. You have a really good basis for a novel there and i would be first to buy and read it. You sucked me right in. Well done.
February 5, 2019 at 7:51 am
You are lovely!!! Thank you! It is so not what I usually do, but maybe I will try and expand on it!!! I would love to know more about the Grandmothers, myself……let’s see where my mind will take me!
February 5, 2019 at 10:08 am
Awesome. I look forward to it
February 4, 2019 at 11:40 pm
Fantastic job! 👏🏻👏🏻
February 5, 2019 at 7:53 am
Thank you, Beautiful!!! It was fun to take the chance with something I don’t ordinarily do.
February 5, 2019 at 6:55 am
You rose to the challenge! I love Bojana’s picture. Your story was perfect. Yay Susan!💜💜💜
February 5, 2019 at 7:53 am
Thank you, Lovely Lady!!!!!! xoxo
February 5, 2019 at 10:10 am
I am very happy you got out of your comfort zone! This is a great story. You brought your poetic powers into it and made such a delightful read! I really really loved it!
February 5, 2019 at 12:05 pm
You are kind and wonderful, B!!! Thank you!
February 5, 2019 at 12:11 pm
Believe me, it’s not because I am kind! You are a very good storyteller!
February 5, 2019 at 12:19 pm
You know how much this means to me! Thank you! I am thinking exploring this story a bit more, and hopefully others. It makes me a bit nervous, but that can be a good thing!!!!
February 5, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Why should you be nwrvous? Do it, even if it’s just for fun.
February 5, 2019 at 1:59 pm
I am going to do exactly that. I need to push all of my anxiety out the door! Thank you, my friend!
February 5, 2019 at 2:18 pm
You are welcome! Kisses!
February 7, 2019 at 4:24 am
I was so hoping you were going to step out of your comfort zone and opt for a story.
When I look into your darkness, I see a whole new world with all the colors of the rainbow, like this story, full of twists.
Loved it. You did such a great job with it. Love you.
February 7, 2019 at 6:16 am
Thank you Gorgeous Lady! You inspire me to push myself in new ways and I am so grateful for you! Love and Adore you!
February 7, 2019 at 6:27 am
You inspire me too, you know. Inspiration is everywhere, when you think of it, isn’t it?
Speaking of which, make sure you check the new Rattle challenge, along with last month’s winners. Read the photographer’s comment as well. He unknowingly gives advice worth taking.
Also, Rust and Moth had some kick-ass poetry last week.
Hugs back.
February 7, 2019 at 6:37 am
The work in Rust + Moth consistently blows my mind. They really are publishing some of the best stuff out there. I love the risks they take without compromising humanity or artistry. I have been off Rattle for a bit, but I will venture over and check it out. xoxo
February 7, 2019 at 6:40 am
I agree. They say Fuck you to the world loud and clear. Uncompromising and unapologetic, just how I like it.
February 7, 2019 at 6:43 am
They do! And the work they publish goes to very dark places, which I know both you and I gravitate toward.
February 7, 2019 at 7:08 am
Oh yes.
February 7, 2019 at 7:13 am
Loved everything about this. What an intriguing story. I’m ashamedly not a big reader of fiction books, but I would read this book! More of this please 😊
February 7, 2019 at 7:35 am
You always know how to make me smile!!! Thank you! I am seriously thinking about trying to turn this into something bigger!!
February 9, 2019 at 9:43 am
I know I can’t top what you did but I will try to see what I can come up with. Most of all I knew you had a story in you. I knew you could tell that story. I also know you have several more. Possibly a novel.
This is step one, kiddo, with many more to follow. I would love to see you expand on this and give us more. Go a little deeper and tell us what you see. Take me by the hand, I want to follow you. Take me into their world.
Excellent work!!!
February 10, 2019 at 6:16 am
I am so thrilled that you are going to do this, Bryan! I know you are so busy and I wasn’t sure you would have time, and I am just so excited! And, you and I both know you are being kind, because I have read your work and you are going to blow this out of the water!!!! You have an amazing talent!!!! I am lucky to have you as a teacher!
I do want to give this story some more attention and I know it has been ages, but I haven’t turned my back on the amazing thing you did for me with the other characters. I have been in a bit of freeze frame and probably sorting out my fears, but I haven’t jumped ship. Thank you for not giving up on me!
February 10, 2019 at 2:02 pm
This is an excellent story, Susan, so beautifully written, original, imaginative, a thriller with many lines of sheer prose-poetry. Loved it!
February 11, 2019 at 7:31 am
Thank you, Marta! As ever, you are so lovely and kind!
February 11, 2019 at 8:03 am
You are always kindly welcome, Susan. I simply like your work very much because it is honest, heartfelt, with elaborate language and beautiful imagery. I truly believe you are a most talented writer. Also for this reason, I so appreciate your feedback and positive comments on many of my humble posts. It just saddens me a bit that my friend Mario Savioni, who is a far better writer than myself and who gave me all the necessary impulse to start a blog and write, gets so very little attention compared to me. It’s just not fair. Perhaps you might want to check out his last post (that would make me immensely happy and Mario too), chapter 5 of Pickles and Tarts, on dreams and reality, illusion and delusion, sexual attraction and seeking love with people of very different ages. This chapter stands on its own as an independent unit that can be read and fully comprehended without reading the previous chapters. Link: https://savioni.wordpress.com/2019/02/07/pickles-and-tarts-chapter-5/
February 12, 2019 at 11:13 am
Whoa! So cool–and so poetic in the descriptions as well. The ending was a true thrill!
February 13, 2019 at 7:45 am
You are the best, Suzanne! Thank you! i hope you are on the mend!
February 13, 2019 at 4:26 pm
Yes, finally 😊
February 14, 2019 at 6:04 am
I am so glad to hear it!!!!
February 14, 2019 at 6:40 am
😊